Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

I had every good intention of starting the new page by posting a wrist shot  of a 'conventional' stainless Seiko 7A38. Honestly. 

But then the postman came early this morning and delivered my newest incoming blingy Orient J39.  So here it is instead. 

Gold-tone Orient J39902-70 in almost mint condition, on the original Orient strap. See also the recent updates to this thread.

This is what I was planning to post yesterday, before the newest blingy Orient J39 arrived - a 7A38-7010 SAA001J.

I nearly didn't bother today either. It's been drizzling on and off all day. Hence the tiny raindrops. 

In the immortal words of John Cleese ...and now for something completely different.

O.K., more like completely different horrible.  But, has to be said, it is a bit girly ! 

My newest incoming non-Seiko 7A38 - a Kamatz 507000 - the (much) reduced 36mm diameter boys / ladies version, which I picked up on eBay in the States a couple of weeks ago, for under $30. It arrived yesterday and is pretty much as received (save for the black muck that came out of the bracelet after an overnight soak). 

In the past, I've painstakingly repainted the bezel markings on the larger versions (both 517000 and 518000), but I shalln't bother with this one. Instead I'll just transfer the dial / movement into a NOS case. Oh, and excuse the bezel misalignment foul - the plastic detent mechanism is totally knackered and it just spins around. Whereas the two-tone aftermarket bracelet works reasonably well, once I've swapped the case, I'll probably end up fitting a leather strap.

36mm is way too small.  Some folks might say that 43mm is too big.  But I like 'em. 

Yema Spationaute III Aragatz # N80P76, early production version with mission flags dial, on Fleurus navy blue shark strap. 

Just checking through one of my collection boxes, I found a couple which needed batteries preplacing - funnily enough both of my standard (factory original) 7A38-7070's. So I thought I'd wear one of them. This is the later version with the white painted hands.

It may appear that my choice of wrist wear is being driven by a seemingly never-ending need to replace batteries. Certainly true of late. I guess that's one of the downsides of owning a collection of well over 200 quartz chronographs.  I opened one of my Yema N8 storage boxes this morning (to check something else) only to find another doing the 'two-second two-step'.  It's a slightly unusual variant of the dressy N81W43 model, in that it's fitted with non-standard pomme hands (the Roman numeral dial version usually has leaf-ended hands) and the chrono' sweep second and sub-dial hands are black japanned rather than gold plated. It came from 'The States', in May last year, thanks to the assistance of Paul in Vegas (PHK).  I didn't change the battery at the time I received it, as I sometimes do, so I can't really complain. 

The sun is playing hide and seek on this early autumn afternoon, popping out from behind the clouds, playing tricks with the light.

So as a result, here's a couple of (un-retouched) contrasting shots of my gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J. 

Getting ready to leave for a Motion Picture shoot at the Plazza Hotel Casino on the Strip. The call sheet for Background Extras specifies casual attire, nothing Vegas flashy..…!, that's not a problem for me…

I'm sure this 7A38-706A on a leather watchband will fit the bill quite nicely. 

Paul, Those pomme hands work well on that Yema as opposed to leaf-ended hands, which seem to be de rigeur on any dial with Roman Numerals. ( just my opinion ) 

Also, I love the Monty Python reference. 

Please forgive the poor quality of the picture. It is my first post of a photo and use of Photobucket. I will do better. 

Beautifull weather in Paris.

Bravo, Renaud. A good first effort and 10/10 for composition. 

As you discovered, it is not easy to compose a wrist shot photo with interesting objects in the distant background and keep the watch in focus. That's why I use the brick wall at the side of my house. The 7A38-706A on a leather strap is an old favourite of mine.

Even if you do have the watch in focus, it's still sometimes difficult to capture that lovely deep dark blue colour of the dial. 

Here's another 7A38-706A SAA017J on the Seiko p/n G1105S stainless bracelet.

A Seiko 7A38-7260 in fair condition, with non-original SS band. From July 1987. This 7A38 should be on a leather band.    

7A38-706A…Paris…

Yep… that's the Eiffel Tower …or rather a 1:2 scale representation at The Paris Hotel Casino on the Las Vegas Strip…

Paris Las Vegas, next time i'll go to the top  

In a similar vein to Don's most recent wrist shot - except this variation is supposed to be fitted with a bracelet. 

The extremely rare 7A38-724A SAA086J. This one is in almost mint condition and only the second example I've ever seen. 

This may possibly be the last wrist shot I post on this forum (in its current format) - or worst case ever. 

Off topic for this thread, but as this popular topic has received more views than any other on this forum (57,000), it seemed as good a place to post it. Within the next 24 hours, our Webs host will be forcibly upgrading this site, from the current software revision to their latest SiteBuilder3. This is, in many respects, effectively a downgrade, rather than an upgrade, as some functionality will me lost.

If you haven't already done so, please read this thread (which I'm about to update), which may give you an idea what to expect.

My Ferrari Formula Cal.531    Built around Seiko's 7A38  chronograph mvt.   

It's a bit chilly outside today - typical Autumn day. So a very Q&D shot of another Yema Spationaute III will have to suffice. 

Not the same watch as on the previous page. This one looks similiar, but is fitted with a dark navy ZRC 'double jonc' strap.

(See bottom of page 2 of this thread for comparison shots).

Haven't worn this one in a while - 7A38-7060 SAA015J.

There can't be many 7A38's in my collection that I haven't posted a wrist shot of in this thread over the last 4 years. Or so I thought, until last week, when I needed a photo of this particular model, to illustrate what was wrong with a very subtle Franken listed on eBay Germany - and found I didn't have a photo on file. It's a comparatively rare variant, which only seems to crop up on eBay in Germany - the two-tone 7A38-727A SAA132J. I must have bought it in early 2009, at a time when my initial goal was to collect all the 7A38-727x and 7A38-728x variants and have hardly ever worn it since. 

At first glance, the 723O dial might look very similar to the light grey 710L used in the two-tone 7A38-7190 and 7A38-7280, but note the complete lack of lume and the slightly higher than normal positioning of the SEIKO logo and text.